Guest post: Rebellion through the Barrel of a Gun
Guest post by Pepijn.
——–
To hills that are sad, like the face of the Magdalene
To the green domes and the prophetic stones
I am with the revolutionaries,
I am of the revolutionaries
Ever since the day I carried my rifle,
Palestine became only meters away
O revolutionaries, in Jerusalem, in Hebron,
In Bisan, in the Jordan Valley, in Bethlehem,
Wherever you may be O free men
Advance, advance, advance to Palestine,
For there is only one path to Palestine,
And it passes through the barrel of a gun
“Asbaha al-Ana ‘indi Bunduqiyyah†– Nizar Qibbani
What is rebellion? My first thought, when I read some of the posts on this weblog, was that Mona is in fact not very rebellious at all. A bit perhaps, but it doesn’t require much imagination to picture worse scenes of sedition. There seems to be something Arabic to the site, certainly – and as for its femininity I shall not venture to speak (I cannot deny having a general interest in that particular subject, yet it’s always smart to retain a certain distance). So, the question is: should Mona have simply called her site “Arab Girl� (Admittedly a less catchy name, but that is not the point, obviously.)
I do suspect that if she would have done that the number of pervert-visitors would be even higher than it already is (as evidenced by the curious terms Google leads people to this site with). Anyway, that is not the topic here; making fun of silly people’s needs (and inability to effectively use a search-engine) is all too easy.
In my opinion, rebellion requires a degree of struggle. Previous guest-posts spoke of “saying no†(the title was all I needed to read (“wanna†is not a word by the way (eat it, English is my second language))) and “changing your life plansâ€, if it can be put thus. No offense to anyone, of course, but I couldn’t discover anything shockingly rebellious in these posts. (Nothing normally rebellious either, for that matter.) Disobedience to authority does not automatically amount to rebellion, and ‘rebellion’ for the sake of rebellion itself is often simply childish. Finally, it’s not really possible to rebel against your own plans.
Yet, I shall be the first to admit that rebellion comes in various shapes and sizes. It seems that one requirement is something to rebel against – although I would prefer to put it the other way around: what is needed is something to rebel for. A kid going to school in some kind of gothic outfit may think he/she is rebellious, but if the only point is to shock parents and teachers, I would say that said youngster in fact identifies the existing rules and therewith confirms them. In other words: if you’re only against something, but have no substantial alternative to offer, you’re not a rebel. Mere transgression of a rule, after all, only defines its borders. (There can be no virtue without vice.)
What, then, is rebellion? A true rebel does not say “no†because it gives so much satisfaction or because it’s nice to stand out. Rebellion starts with a cause, it can be anything really. Whether or not this cause is accepted by society, the state, or whatever does not matter. The quintessence of rebellion lies in the fact that it is ultimately created by the institutions it seems to be aimed against. Essentially, rebellion consists of the refusal to give up an ideal, no matter how much struggle it takes. Therefore, no one really chooses to be a rebel, and every true rebel is reluctant to be one. It’s a positive force, in favour of one thing; its essence is not that it’s against something else.
That, in my view, is how rebellion should be understood. A ‘rebel without a cause’ is not a rebel.
Of course, it’s not a black-and-white issue, and many different examples could be given. One such example can be found in the song I started off with (to be interpreted metaphorically!), which also gives us a conclusion to ponder; rebellion can only come into the world – in one way or another – through the barrel of a gun. Whether or not this answers my initial question about the name of this site, is for others to decide.
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Very interesting perspective I have to say!
“A kid going to school in some kind of gothic outfit may think he/she is rebellious, but if the only point is to shock parents and teachers, I would say that said youngster in fact identifies the existing rules and therewith confirms them.”
My man, you have no idea. Keep trying to interpret everything that people have posted to your advantage. You seem to have read the superficial, which is quite amazing for someone who wants to come across as “deep” and “thoughtful”. To point out, the first guest post had absolutely nothing to do with gothic outfits being worn to school.
I have nothing more to tell you except: You can’t disregard different people’s perception of their rebellion. Simply writing a poem and speaking of your “bigger” cause and writing “palestine” in your essay paper does not automatically disqualify our own struggles, noble man.
Burned!
the most wonderfull song. and poem.. i love this song. there is another wonderful one … eza alsha3bo youman arada el7ayat…. it is song now. and also a7ba2y by julia butros.
Lisa,
I didn’t disqualify any struggles. My argument was that rebellion should have a point and that not every kind of “disobedience” is rebellion. The fact that a struggle isn’t really rebellion doesn’t mean it’s not a struggle.
My aim was to write something about rebellion that went a little deeper, something to think about. If this made me seem overtly noble, I apologise – In fact I am a huge bastard.
Whether or not you agree with my views is your own business, but if you argue against it substantiate your claims with relevant arguments. You didn’t say anything at all about my main “thesis”.
Lastly, I quoted the poem to make it less abstract, and of course because I simply think it’s a nice one. If what I wrote myself would be crap, so I thought, at least people would have had a nice poem to read.
I trust you enjoyed it.
Best,
P.
was this a song or a poem? it is a very meaningful one. and by the way, very meaningful post too.
It feels like you’re trying to say that one type of struggle is more significant than another. Yes, living in Palestine in terrible conditions is a struggle for many but you have to look at every society. Like my post stated, what is acceptable in one society may be reprehensible in another. Same idea. You may not be an outwardly oppressed person living in the Middle East but a rich, White person in North America. Regardless, that seemingly well-off person may have severe struggles that are hidden to the naked eye and have his/her own way of rebelling against something for a special cause that is not always clear at first. EVERYONE HAS A CAUSE. There are just different ways of going about rebelling that are not as obvious as others. Just because you don’t see it does not mean that it isn’t there.